Climate Change
(and You)
Mark van Soestbergen
ICBE
UF BCN
September 1, 2005
Carbon Dioxide
Intercepts infrared waves going into space
Gasoline is 85.5% carbon
1 gallon of conventional gasoline becomes
172 cubic feet / 4.87 cubic meters of CO2
Humans add about 25 billion tonne
carbon dioxide
to the atmosphere each year
Image courtesy
SeaWiFS Project,
NASA/Goddard Space
Flight Center, and
ORBIMAGE
01-11-2002
We are here
Globally,
temperatures
are projected
to rise an
additional
2 – 5°C in
the 21st
Century
Summer Arctic Sea
Ice
1979
2000
NASA Goddard Space Flight Center
Greenland is
melting
NY Times June 8, 2004
Currents distribute heat
Fabian, Sep, 2003
Fabian, Sep, 2003
Jeanne, Sep, 2004
Sea Surface Temp Anomaly,
Jun~Sep, 2003
The oceans have absorbed about 30 times more
heat than the atmosphere since 1955
Global Climate Change
changes everything

CO2 changes plant behavior

Increases temperature of the atmosphere,
the earth’s crust and the oceans

Affects global hydro cycle
Summers will be scorchers
These maps show the projected increase in average daily July heat index relative to the
present. The largest increases are in the southeastern states, where the models projects
increases of more than 25°F.
A July day in Atlanta that now reaches 105°F would reach 115°F in the Hadley model, and
130°F in the Canadian model.
Florida
- Reversal of summer-wet, winter-dry
- Brand new animal, plant and human diseases
- Sea level rise
- Storms
Expected sea
level increase 21st
Century:
+ 1.2 meter
Florida + 5 meter,
unavoidable w/out
action
Courtesy: PBS
The atmosphere now holds 30% more
carbon than a century ago.
Human
emission rate
in billion
tC/yr
8
equilibrium
Earth
absorption rate
in billion
tC/yr
4.7
time
de-carbonization pathway
Latent atmospheric Carbon is
about 188 billion ton
U.S. commitment under Kyoto
-Nice meeting all of you!
this presentation can be downloaded from:
www.icbe.com/about/uf/lectures/index.htm
Mark van Soestbergen
mark@icbe.com
352 367 1144 tel
352 335 9140 fax
Toward Climate Stability™